A sign in front of the Waverly Business Center lists the New England Compounding Center and other business in Framingham, Mass. / AP / File

Written by

Walter F. Roche Jr.

The Tennessean

Some $20 million has shown up in the personal bank and investment accounts of some of the owners of the Massachusetts drug compounding firm that has been blamed for a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis.

Filings in the bankruptcy case of the New England Compounding Center show that the nearly $20 million is being held in frozen bank and investment accounts of four of the company owners. The accounts were frozen by a bankruptcy judge and could become available to creditors, including Tennessee victims and their families.

The filings come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported one new death from the outbreak over the past eight days, pushing the total to 47. No new deaths were reported in Tennessee, where the death toll remains at 14, the highest of any state in the nation.

Overall, the CDC reported that 707 patients have become infected by fungus-tainted spinal steroids produced by the Framingham, Mass., firm. The Tennessee total remains at 148. New cases were reported in Indiana and Michigan.

The additional death was also in Indiana, which now has 10 deaths. The second highest total of deaths is in Michigan with 13.

According to the bankruptcy filings, NECC shareholder Carla Conigliaro has a $10 million investment account with Charles Schwab. Bank of America reported it had a total of $6.59 million in the names of Barry Cadden, Lisa Conigliaro Cadden, Gregory Conigliaro and Carla Conigliaro.

The Middlesex Savings Bank reported it had a $1.9 million account in the name of Gregory Conigliaro and an account with just under $1.5 million in the name of Carla Conigliaro.

Randy Kinnard, the Nashville attorney representing several local victims, said the size of the bank and investment accounts didnít surprise him at all.

Attorneys for the creditors sought the freeze or attachment of up to $21 million in assets after filings showed that in the year before the bankruptcy, some $21 million in payments were made to stockholders or affiliated companies. All of the company stock is owned by members of the Cadden and Conigliaro families.